Combination jack-spring and touch-regulator for upright-piano actions



F. L. 650m.

COMBINATION JACK SPRING AND TOUCH REGULATOR FOR UPRICHT PIANO ACTIONS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9. I9I9.

1,353,649. PatentedSept. 21,1920.

FIG. I.

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FRANK L. GEORGE, 015 LOS AN GEIJES, CALIFORNIA.

COMBINATION JACK-SPRING AND TOUCH-REGULATOR FOR UPRIGHT- PIANO ACTIONS.

Application filed September 9, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. GEORGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Combination ack- Springs and Touch-Regulators for Upright- Piano Actions, of which the "following is a specification. I V

My invention relates to a combination jack spring and touch regulator for upright pianos.

A very pronounced defect in the upright action of today is the fact that when the action is set up, adjusted and regulated there is no way of changing the weight of the touch or action and any experienced retail salesman will readily testify to the fact that thousands upon thousands of sales have been lost becausethe action was too heavy or the action was too light and because there was no way of remedying this defect or ob ection.

As a matter of simon pure truth the last resort of many salesmen is to tell the customer that the shop man or tuner can easily and quickly change the touch to any desired weight, when deep down in his heart the salesman knows this to be a misrepresentation. If he lands the customer he also lands a bunch of future trouble.-

The old coil jack spring soon becomes weak when used and often breaks and will sometimes jump out of'the socket in the jack extension in which it rides and frequently one coil laps over another and produces a squeak. My object is to overcome this and other objections.

Figure 1' is a fragmentary side elevation of an upright piano action having a combination jack spring and automatic touch regulator embodying the principles of my invention, the supporting parts being shown in cross section and parts being broken away to show the details.

F ig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation showing how the coil jack spring may be used with my construction.

The intermediate action rail 1 is rigidly mounted in the action bracket 2. 'An intermediate flange 3 is secured to the frontside of the rail 1 by a screw 4 and extends upwardly above the rail 1. The upper lever 5 is substantially horizontalandis connected to the upper endof the "flange 3 by a Specification of Letters Patent.

' against the. bracket 30 Patented Sept. 21, 1920. Serial No. 322,733.

end 16 of the spring extends forwardly from the coil 14 and has an eye through which the individual adjusting screw 17 is inserted and the adjusting screw 17 is tapped downwardly into the heel 18 extending forwardly from the lower end of the jack 10. The spring 13 has a longer end 19 extending from the opposite end of the coil from the end 16 and the long end 19 has a portion 20 curved downwardly to form a seat.

The tension of the spring 13 on the jack 10 is regulated by adjusting the screw 17.

he'main regulating rod 21. extends through all the action brackets 2 and at one end of the rod a crank arm 22 extends upwardly from the rod 21. A crank 23 is formed upon the outer end of the crank arm 22 and fits through a vertical slot 24. The vertical slot 24 is formed in an adjusting bracket 25 having a head 26. The main action rail 27 is rigidly mounted in the action bracket 2 and the regulating rail 28 is connected to the main action rail by arm 29. A bracket 30 is secured to the regulating rail 28 and a small bracket 31 is secured to the main action rail 27. The collective regulating screw 32has a left hand screw thread 33 seated through the head 26 and the screw extends through the brackets 30 and 31, there being a shoulder 34 upon one end of the screw and a lock nut 35 upon the other end of the screw against the bracket 31 to holdthe screw from endwise movement. A handle 36 is fixed upon the forward end of the screw 32 so that by manipulating the handle 36 the main regulating rod 21 may be rotated forwardly and backwardly.

form touch upon the keys and then the han- 38 ,upon the outer rear ends of the springs right or. clockwise die 36 is manipulated to increase or vdecrease the weight of the touch throughout the key board. w 1 7 By manipulating the handle 36 to the thebearing 26 will be moved backwardly and the bearings 38 will press downwardly upon the springs 13 and increase the weight of the touch, and by operating the handle 36 reversely the head 26 will move forwardly and lighten the touch. This adjustment will provide a variation in key Weight ranging from twoto five ounces.

If desired the ordinary coil spring 39 may be inserted between the seat 40 on the abstract 7 and the heel 18 of the jack 10 as shown in 2.

The details of the action are shown, described and claimed in my co-pending applications, Serial Numbers 322728 and 322729.

The pressure downwardly by the bearings 13 press downwardly upon thejacks 10 and this pressure is communicated to the keys through the abstract 7; The touch is regulated to uniformity by manipulating the individual adjusting screws 17 andcthe collective touch is made lighter or heavierby manipulating the handle 36.

Thusl have'produced a combination jack spring and touch regulator for upright pianos comprising a main regulating. rod rotatably mounted through the action brackets, a crank arm extending from the main regulating rod at right angles, acollective regulating screw rotatabl mounted and held against ,endwise movement, a head screw-seated upon the screw, a connection between the head and the'crank arm where by manipulation of the collective regulating screw will rotate tne main regulating rod i'orwardl or backwardl individual pressure arms extending from the main regulatin rod sarin s ivotall, connected to the Jacks intermed ate oi their ends and havmgcorrespon'dmg ends engaging the pressure arms, andindivldual ad ust1ng screws connecting the other ends of the springs to the jacks, so that by manipulating the individual adjusting screws the individual touch of each key may be adjusted to uni-Q formity, and so that by manlpulating the collective regulating screw the collective touch may be made lighter or heavier.

Various changes may be made .without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed. 7

I claim: 7 V I j 1 In a ack spring and touch regulator for upright piano actions in combination,

brackets adapted to carry piano actions,

. the actions comprising mechanism embodying jacks, a collective touch regulating rod rotatably mounted. through the action brackets, an arm extendingfrom the collective regulating rod, a collective touch regu jack springs 'on the same plane as the eyes and ad acent .justment or" spring pressure upon any individual jack.

vby the jack springs.

lating screw rotatably mounted in'an action bracket, a nut tor the screw pivotally connected with the arm of the regulating rod, having eyes at one one, coils thereto and a'hook at the end opposite from the eyes, said springs being mounted upon the jacks with their eyes held by a vertically operated regulating screw and their coils held loosely by a horizontal pin, the hook end of the springs extending outwardly from the jacks, and arms upon the regulating rods having ends adapted to re- *ceive the hook ends of the springs whereby the manipulation or" the collective regulating screw will operate to exert a greater or less spring pressure downwardlyiup'on all the jacks in unison and whereby a vertical adthe screws holding the eyes of the springs to the jacks will regulate the 2. In combination in a jack spring and touch regulator for upright piano actions, brackets adapted 'to carry piano, actions,'the actions comprising mechanism embodying jacks, a collective touch regulating rod operatively mounted in the brackets, j ack springs mounted upon the acks and extending backwardly therefrom, means mounted upon the collective touch regulating rod for engaging 1 the free ends of the-jack springs, and means for operating the touch regulating rod whereby thesprings will be caused to exert a vdesired pressure downwardly upon the j acks.

. r 3. in a jack spring and touch regulator v forupright-piano actions, in combination,

brackets adapted to carry piano actions, the plane actions compr slng mechanism emany 7 individual jack may be varied, and

1 means for collectivelyvarying the spring pressure exerted downwardly upon the jacks i. In combination in a jack spring and touch regulator for upright p1ano actions,

brackets adapted to carry'piano actions, the

piano actionscomprisingmechanism embodying jacks, a collectivetouch regulating rod operatively mounted in the brackets, means for rocking the regulating rod to a desired position of adjustment, arms'mouiit- I ed upon the rod, one for each of the actions,

springsconnected to the jacks and extending outwardly and engaging the arms of the rod whereby the spring pressure downwardly upon the jacks may be collectively regulated,

and means mounted upon'the jacks for regulating'the pressure ofeach individual spring downwardly. V

. 5, In a jack spring and touch regulator forupright piano actions,in combination, a jack having a slot from front to rear adjacent to it low r end, a spring having an eye adapted to be held by a vertically adjustable portion of the jack forwardly of the slot and having a coil adapted to operate Within the slot, there bein the jack across the slot and and having a backwardly e g a pin through through the coil, Xtending portion adapted to be engaged by means for IOWQD ing the outer end thereof and means for lowering the outer ends of the spring to any 10 desired position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRANK L. GEORGE. 

